Foot-operated beater for drums and cymbals.



A. W. RICHES.

FOQT OPERATED BEATER FOR DRUMS AND CYMBALS. APPLICATION FILED JULY 26.19ll.

1,277,123. Patented A110. 27, 1918.

P 160 0: J V

ARTHUR H R/Cf/ES aY W Im. NoRRrs PL'YERS cc FHOm-LITNQ. WASNINGYON. u. c.

ARTHUR w. RICHES, or LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

FOOT-OPERATED BEATER FOR DRU MS AND CYMBALS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 26, 1917. Serial No. 182,992.

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, .ARTHUR WV. Exams, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State'of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Foot-Operated Beaters for Drums and Cymbals, of which the following is a specification.

My object is to make a foot operated heater for drums and cymbals, and to provide a device which may be readily changed from swing beating to stop beating and Vice versa, and to provide a device which will beat a drum and cymbal simultaneously.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a foot operated drum and cymbal beater embodying the principles of my invention in position for use upon a drum and cymbal, the drum and cymbal being broken away to economize space.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the device as seen looking in the direction indicated by the arrow .2 in Fig. 1, the drum and cymbal being broken away.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail on the lines 3-3 of Figs. 1 and 4.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional detail on the line 55 of Fig. 2, the pedal being broken away.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional detail on the line 66 of Fig. 1.

In Figs. 1 and 2,.the drum head 1 is shown mounted in a vertical position, and the cymbal 2 is mounted upon an arm 2' and held directly in front of the drum head 1 at one side of the center and out of contact with the drum. The center of the cymbal 2 is on a horizontal level with the center of the drum head.

The base 3 is fiat on the bottom and adapted to rest upon a floor 4. The clamping foot 5 extends backwardly from the base 3 and the rim 6 of the drum head rests upon the clamping foot 5. The boss 7 extends upwardly from the base and has a vertical bore 8. The lower end of the post 9 is reduced to form a shoulder 10 fitting against the top of the boss 7, and a pintle 11 extends into the bore 8. A vertical groove 12 is formed in the pintle 11. A set-screw 13 is screw-seated horizontally and transversely in the boss and the point of the screw fits in the groove 12 to hold the post 9 from rotating and to hold the post 9 rigid with the by manipulatinothe nut the drum may be clamped and rin clamped.

An extension rod 18 is rigidly fixed at its rear end in the base 3 and its forward end is bent at right angles to form the pedal pivot 19. Cylindrical bearing blocks or rollers 20 and 21 are mounted upon the ends of the pivot 19. A pedal or foot-lever 22 has bearings 23 and 24 loosely mounted upon the pivot 19 and the body of the lever is of considerable length, extending from the pivot 19 past the 0st 9. A ledge 25 extends laterally from t e boss 7 and carries a cushion 26 in position to limit the downward movement of the pedal. A heel support 27 has a bearing to fit the pivot 19 between the bearings 23 and 24, and said support is a plate extending forwardly from the pivot and resting upon the floor. A pair of ears 28 extend upwardly from the rear end of the pedal 22 and a pivot pin 29 is mounted in these ears. A spring seat 30 is placed on top of the pivot 29 and aspring 31 is placed on top of the spring seat 30. A bearin block 32 is formed integral transversely and horizontally at the upper end of the'post 9 and a shaft 33 is loosely mounted in this hearing. A rocker-arm 34 is rigidly fixed upon one end of the shaft 33, and a crank 35 is rigidly fixed upon the other end of the shaft. A bifurcated bearing 36 extends horizontally from near the lower end of the post 9. A retractile coil spring-37 is hooked into the lower end of the crank 35 and is connected to the adjusting screw 38, said screw extending through the slot in the bearing 36 and having a knurled adjusting nut 39 upon its lower end so asto adjust the tension of the spring by manipulating the nut. The tension of the spring 37 is ex-, erted to return the rocker arm 34 to its normal position and the normal position is the position occupied by the parts before the pedal 22 is operated and at this time the beater is withdrawn from the drum head. The bearing 40 extends backwardly from the Patented Aug. 27, 191s.

rocker arm 34 and is slightly inclined upwardly relative to the crank arm 35. A link 41 is hooked into this bearing and has screw-threads 42 upon its'lower end. The adjusting sleeve 43. has a central screwthreaded bore 44 and a shoulder 45 at the lower end of the bore. The bolt 46 is inserted head 47 upon its lower end for manipula tion, so that byimanipulatingthe head 47 the aggregate length between the bearing 40 and the ears 28 maybe shortened or lengthened.

The drum beater 48 is circular one way and flat the other way and consists of a fabric cover 49 preferably of strong felt, the cover being filled with a suitable packing 50. The beater'stem 51 has a screwthreaded upper end 52. A wing-nut 53 is screwed backwardly upon the end 52 to the shoulder at the end of the threads, a compression plate 54 is placed against the nut, the screw-threads. 52 are inserted through the axial center of the beater 48, a second compression plate 55 is placed upon the stem against the opposite side of the beater from the plate 54, the two. plates are pressed toward each other and against the nut 53, and a second nut 56isplaced upon the outer end of the threads 52 for holding the beater in place.

thebeater 48 may be compressed or released to produce the desired hardness. The

stem 51 is slidingly mounted through the rocker-arm. 34 at an angle of about fortyfive degrees relative to the post 9 when the parts are in their normal positions, as in Fig. 1, and a wing headed set-screw 57 is inserted through a jam-nut 58 and into the rocker-arm 34, the point of the set-screw engaging in a groove 59. extending the entire length of the stem 51, so as to hold the stem from rotating in the rocker-arm 34 and so that by manipulating the set-screw the stem may be moved back and forth through the rocker-arm to adjust the beater 48 to or from the rocker-arm.

A worm wheel 60 having worm gear threads 61 extending part 'wayaround its periphery 'isslidingly mounted upon the stem 51 and held adjustably in place by a wing headed set-screw 62 inserted through a lock-nut 63 and through the wheel 60, with the point of the screw extending into the groove 59, so as to holdgthe wheel from rotating upon the stem andso as to adjust the wheel to and from the rocker arm 34. A

By manipulating .the wing-nut v bearing block 64 is bifurcated to fit upon the stem 51 upon each side of the wheel 60. A worm pinion 65 is fitted in the bearing block 64transversely of the stem 51 and in mesh with the worm gear threads 61. A screw 66 is tapped into the end ofthe pin ion 65, said screw having a fiat head fitting against the side of the bearing block 64. A hand-wheel 67 is mounted upon the pintle 68 extending from theopposite end of the pinion 65 from the screw 66 and has a head 69 engaging against the side of the block 64 to hold the pinion from endwis'e movement in the block, and a nut, 70 holds the handwheel 67 in place so that by manipulating the hand-wheel 67 the bearing block 64' is rotated upon the stem 51. i

The cymbal arm 71 has a head 72 fitting between bearings 73 GXtQDCllhgi from the bearing block 64,.and a cap-screw 74 is inserted throughthe bearings 73 and through the head 72 and forms a pivotfor the arm 71. The pivot 4is parallel with the worm pinion 65 and at right angles to. the stem 51. A leaf-spring 7 5 is held against the back side of the bearing block 64 by a screw 76. The head 72 has a flat side 77 and a second flat side 7 8, said fiat side 77 fitting against the spring when the arm 71 is extended horizontally for use, and the fiat side 78 fitting against the spring 75 when the arm 71 is swung upwardly out of use, the tension of the spring being exerted to hold the arni either up or down.

The arm 1 normally. extends horizontally. outwardly from the stem 51 and then downwardly at an incline, and the metallic beater 79 is fixed upon'the outer end of the arm. When the arm is in its normalposition, as in Figs. 1 and 2, the beater 79 will strike the cymbal 2, and when'the arm is snapped upwardly, as shown in dottedlines in Fig. 4, the beater 79 will'not strike the cymbal The tension of the spring 37 normally holds the arm 35 vertical'and the pedal 22 is elevated from the cushion 26 and the beaters are withdrawn from the drum head and cymbal, as shown in Fig. 1. If it is desired to do swing beating, the sleeve '43'is manipulated to' shorten the connection between the pedal and the rocker-a'rm'34-so that the heaters will strike the instruments without depressing the pedal to strike the cushion 26, then the operators heel will rest upon the heel support 27 and the ball of his foot will rest upon the pedal 22. The beater 48 will strike the druin head and the beater 79 will strikethe cymbalsimultane ously, and the force of the stroke will be de termined by the force of the foot When it is desired to do stop beating, the

heelsupport 27 is turned under thepedal strike the cushion 26. Then a down stroke of the pedal will strike the cushion and the momentum of the heaters will carry the heaters over to hit the instruments and during this operation the spring 31 is compressed and the tension of the spring helps to snap the heaters back.

The swing of the beater 48 is adjusted by manipulating the set-screw 57 to slide the stem 51 back and forth through the rockerarm 34. The stroke of the cymbal. beater 79 is adjusted by manipulating the set-screw 62 to move the bearing block 64 up and down on the stem 51. In order to regulate the relative positions of the two heaters 48 and 79 so as to strike the two instruments 1 and 2 simultaneously with the proper relative force, the hand-wheel 67 is manipulated to move the heater 7 9 forwardly or backwardly relative to the beater 48.

The device is easily knocked down and folded for transportation by loosening the screw 13 and removing the post 9 from its connection with the base.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of my invention as set up in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A base, a post extending upwardly from. the base, a rocker-arm pivotally connected to the post, a pedal, an adjustable yielding connection between the free end of the pedal and the free end of the rockerarm, a ledge extending from the base in position to limit the down stroke of the pedal, and a heater carried by the rocker-arm.

2. A base, a boss extending upwardly from the base and having a vertical bore, a post removably mounted in the vertical bore, a heater pivotally connected to the post, a pedal for operating the heater, and a spring for returning the beater toits normal position.

3. A drum beater comprising a stem, a compression plate upon the stem, a fabric casing filled with packing mounted upon the stem against the compression plate, a second compression plate upon the stem against the casing, and means for adjustably moving the compression plates to or from each other to regulate the hardness.

i. A rocker-arm pivotally mounted, a pedal connected to the rocker-arm, a drum beater stem extending from the rocker-arm, a drum beater upon the end of the stem, a worm gear fixed upon the stem, a bearing block rotatably mounted upon the stem, a worm pinion carried by the bearing block and engaging the worm gear, and a cymbal beater connected to the bearing block; so that by manipulating the worm pinion the cymbal heater is adjusted concentric to the stem.

5. A drum heating device comprising a block and transversely of the drum beater stem.

6. A cymbal beater comprising a metallic head, an arm to the end of which said head is fiXed,a bearing block adapted to be positioned upon the stem of a drum beater, means for pivotally securing the cymbal beater arm to the hearing block for swinging movement in a plane substantially parallel to the axis of the .drum beater stem, means for adjustably securing the block at points along said stem, and means for adjustably swinging the cymbal beater arm in a transverse plane to said stem.

7. A drum beater comprising a base, a vertical post, a rocker-arm pivotally supported by said post, a drum beater stem secured to said arm, a pedal, means for connecting the swinging end of the pedal with the rockerarm, and means whereby said connection may be rendered yieldable so that the beater member on the stem may swing forwardly after the pedal has reached a dead stop.

8. A base, means for clamping said base to the rim of a drum head, a vertical post detachably positioned upon said base, means for clamping said post in rigid relation to the base, a bearing formed at the upper end of said post, a horizontally disposed rockshaft extending through said bearing, a rocker-arm secured at one end of said shaft, a spring crank secured at the opposite end of said shaft, a spring connected to said crank, a threaded stem connected to the lower end of the spring, a forked bearing extending outwardly from the side of the post and between the arms of which said stem is removably disposed, an adjusting nut positioned upon the stem and adapted to bear against the under face of said bearing to regulate the tension of the spring and normally maintain the spring crank in a vertically alined position, a heater stem secured for longitudinal adjustable movement through the rocker-arm, a heater head mounted at the outer end of said stem, a con necting stem pivotally secured to the rockerarm and hanging downwardly therefrom, a threaded sleeve engaging the lower end of said stem, a bolt mounted within the threaded sleeve, a spring yieldably holding the bolt in movable relation to said sleeve, and a pedal pivotally connected to said bolt.

9. A base, means for clamping said base to the rim of a drum head, a Vertical post detachably positioned upon said base, means for clamping said post in rigid relation to the basefa bearing formed at the'u'pper end of said post, a horizoiitally disposed rocksha'ft extending through said bearing a rocker-arm secured at one end of said shaft, a spring crank secured at the opposite end of said shaft, a spring connected to said crank, a threaded stein connected to the lower end of the spring, a forked bearing extending outwardly from the side of the post and between the arms of which said stem is removably disposed an adjusting nut positioned upon the stem and adapted to bear against the under face of said bear ing to regulate the tension of the spring and normally maintain 'the spring crank in a vertically alined position, a beater stein secured for longitudinal adjustable movement th'roi'igh the rocker-arm, a beater head mounted at the outer end of said stem, a connecting stein pivotally secured to the rocker-arm and hanging downwardly there" from, a threaded sleeve engaging the lower end of said stem, a bolt mounted within the threaded sleeve, a spring yieldably holding the bolt in movable relation to said sleeve, and a pedal pivotally connected to said bolt. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, x f

ARTHUR WV. RICHES.

Collies 01' this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the com missioner of iateiits, Washington, D. C." 

